


Requiem: A Life is Strange Story

by DerekS



Category: Life Is Strange, Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Love; Family;, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23051806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DerekS/pseuds/DerekS
Summary: After the events of “Shadows,” Chloe and Max have reunited. But Max, Rachel and Chloe were shocked to find that Salome, Max’s girlfriend from Paris, was in the shadows the whole time. Now that Salome is in their lives, what does it mean? What about Max’s visions and fears? The story that began in Sacrifice now concludes and the lives of Max, Chloe, Rachel and Salome will never be the same.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Rachel Amber/Chloe Price, Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	Requiem: A Life is Strange Story

**Author's Note:**

> Note 1: This story is the conclusion to my original Life is Strange story that began in “Sacrifice” published on April 22nd, 2019 at Archive of Our Own. That story continued in "Shadows" which followed in October. I recommend you read both prior to reading Requiem.
> 
> Sacrifice: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539296  
> Shadows: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20881406
> 
> Featured Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OFrJBi_3QE
> 
> Acknowledgments: First and foremost, I would like to thank Koethe Koethe for allowing me to use his music in my trailer and his lyrics in the various parts of my story. I am honored to be able to make it a part of my story and I am forever indebted to him. You can find his incredible, Life is Strange inspired music on his YouTube channel at the link below:
> 
> Koethe Koethe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_YH1XwKYHHzRKMjiTg0Sow
> 
> I would like to thank my #WeAreLIS Twitter family especially Dan, Kamil and Amber for all of the support! I especially would like to thank my volunteer beta readers as well.
> 
> Lastly, I would like to thank my co-worker, Karina. Her constant enthusiasm and support kept me writing and on track. Her ideas helped shape these stories, laughter kept me positive and friendship kept me confident that I could do it.
> 
> Dedication: 
> 
> I dedicate this story to everyone who is stuck in the labyrinth. How do we get out of the labyrinth? That’s an answer you must find for yourself.

**Prologue**   
  


_Starstruck for the first time in a long time_  
 _This is not goodbye this is never goodbye_  
 _Forever oh forever oh_  
 _There's a voice callin’ out in the back of my head_  
 _This is not the end this is not the end_  
 _Forever oh forever oh_  
-Forever, Koethe Koethe

**December 14, 2021**   
  


Even though it had been several days since she arrived, Chloe still could not forgive herself. As she looked around she chuckled. Not that funny kind of chuckle but the ironic kind.

“When I left this place, I swore I would never come back,” she thought to herself.

But she knew she had too. For such an event, to be there to honor her best friend, her soulmate, Chloe knew she had to return to Arcadia Bay. And she knew her life would never be the same.

Behind her, stood the lighthouse she knew all too well. The bench, where she spent many hours smoking, hanging out and thinking about life and all the shit she had gone through, sat there illuminated in the sun. She had deliberately gotten up early to come to this spot, alone. She needed time. She needed to think. She needed to process.

It had been a strange couple of months. She thought back to everything that had happened. She had found Max after years of searching. Max told her everything about her life after she had saved Rachel… about leaving her timeline and her Chloe. She talked about her travels and all the places she had been. Chloe was envious. She had never even been outside of the United States. She was happy for Max. But it was not this that led her to this spot on this day.

A memory, a thought from year’s past popped into her head:

“We’re Max and Chloe, remember? We’re always together…”.

As tears formed in her eyes, Chloe stared off into the morning sunrise. “I guess always meant something different to you, Max.”

She instantly regretted saying it. She couldn’t blame Max for this. She couldn’t allow her sadness and hurt to be what she remembered.

“Maybe it’s this place. Why here Max? Of all the places you could have picked, why here?” she thought to herself.

As the sun rose higher into the sky, Chloe knew she had to go. She knew staying here would not stop what was to come. She knew she was going to have to face it… all of the emotions. Avoiding it would not help.

Chloe got up off the bench and turned and started down the hill to her car. Even though it was a cold winter’s day, the sun shone brightly through the trees. It illuminated the lighthouse which practically glowed. As she approached the trees and the path curved down and away from the overlook, she turned and looked back at the lighthouse, the bench and the view.

“Damn, that is beautiful,” she thought. Too bad this town was still this town. It took her Dad from her and for that, she would never forgive it and in another time, it took her life or made Max have to decide a terrible fate for many people. Countless possibilities, countless timelines and she doubted that any of them were happy. It was Arcadia Bay afterall.

She knew she had been here and seen this scene in lives she never knew, in worlds she never lived. Max had told her about how special this location was, about the choices she had to make. About how she chose Chloe over everything and everyone. She wondered if in one of those lives if she and Max ended up happy together. If their lives would have been different. If on this day she would have been happy and not experiencing the pain and longing she was feeling deep within her. “Doubt it,” she mumbled to herself.

Maybe it would have been different. Maybe fate and destiny would have been less fickle and given her a different life. But that did not matter now. She had to face what was to come.

\----*----

Chloe arrived at the church to find people already gathering. “Late, as usual,” she thought to herself. As she looked around, she saw that the crowd was smaller than she figured. She knew some of the faces in the crowd. She knew her parents would be there and so would Max’s. But many of their friends had moved on. She had hoped some of them would have made it today. Max would have liked that but Chloe understood. Victoria was living in L.A. the last Chloe heard and that would be a difficult drive for her. Warren and Kate, married and expecting their third child, were too pregnant to attend. But even though Rachel’s “Mom” and Dad did not know Max, they knew how much she meant to Rachel and Chloe so they made a point to attend. For Rachel and even though it took a long time to accept her, they were there for Chloe too. And of course, Chloe’s Mom and step-dad, and Max’s parents would be there too.

“It’s times like this that friends and family are so important and matter so much,” Chloe heard someone say as an arm went around her waist.

Chloe turned around and before her stood a goddess. No, not just a goddess, her goddess. Rachel Amber.

No matter how many times Chloe had seen Rachel, every time was like the first time. Rachel looked stunning. Unbelievably stunning.

“I knew you were in deep thought. As I have been. It's a lot to process and to take in. These last couple months have been a blur...and now this,” Rachel said.

“You aren’t lying,” Chloe answered. “Rachel, I’m feeling so many things. I can’t put it in words. I can’t find a way to express it.”

“Chloe, I know. And I don’t expect you too. Max has meant so much to you… to me, to us, to Maxine… but even more to you. I know this is hard. I know I cannot even begin to comprehend what you are feeling. And you know what? That’s okay. I love you. Maxine loves you. I love our life together. Take all the time you need. Maxine and I will be together and your parents and mine will be sitting near the front. Are you ready for this?”

Chloe took a deep breath, closed her eyes and exhaled. “Yea, I’m ready as I will ever be. You go on in. I will be in soon. My Mom should be in there with Maxine already. I wonder if Maxine has been asking questions. It may be difficult for her to understand what is going on.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rachel assured her. “I’ll be right there if she does. You think about what you need to do and make it perfect. It has to be perfect. Max would want it that way.”

Chloe leaned in and kissed Rachel. “I can always count on you and you are always supporting me. Thank you. I love being married to you.”

“Me too,” came the wink and reply as Rachel slowly walked away.

Chloe watched Rachel as she followed the stone path into the church and her eyes drifted upwards to the steeple. The stained glass window, smaller than Chloe thought windows like that would be, was illuminated by the sun. It showed a vine with grapes growing on it. The small church itself was beautiful and quite old, made of stone and rock and had a very rustic look. It had been in Arcadia Bay for many years, even back to when Chloe was a child. It had seen its share of the good times and the bad, so it was only appropriate that here, in this place, her life was going to change again.

“Of all the places you could have picked Max, why this one?” Chloe wondered again. She looked down at her wrist and pulled the sleeve of her shirt back and as she did, Rachel’s bracelet appeared. Just before this… all of this… Max had given the bracelet to Chloe.

Chloe could hear Max’s words, across time and across space. “Here you need this. You should keep it safe. I am not sure where life is going to take me but I want you to have it. I don’t need it anymore.” Chloe rotated the bracelet on her wrist to get a good look at it.

What she would give for one more word, one more hug, one more smile… and to go back before this, before now. But that was not meant to be. Chloe missed her deeply and wanted nothing more than to see her again. There were days when you knew… just simply knew that your life and the lives around you would be altered forever. You may not know if it was going to be good or bad but you just knew. Today was one of those days. She knew when she stepped in that church, nothing would ever be the same. And with that, she walked into the church not knowing what to expect.

**Chapter 1**

_Taken away taken all time_   
_Taken a long look what matters inside_   
_And you're all I find_

_Captured between all the things I’ve seen_   
_Wish that you could so would see its true_   
_That I’ll not lose you_

_And I know we've been here before_  
 _But we're not so innocent any more_  
-Only One, Koethe Koethe

**October 29, 2021**   
  


“Salome?” Max said in a whisper. Max realized the darkness was fading and light was returning but her vision was still a little foggy. She was not sure what happened.

“Yes, Max. I’m here. I’m right here beside you. Chloe and Rachel are also here. You fainted.”

Max could feel Salome next to here, kneeling on the floor. Salome always had a presence that Max could feel, like they were connected. Even after Max left Paris, Max could feel her connection to Salome. And now, with Salome next to her, she felt it stronger than ever.

“Ow, my head!” Max exclaimed as she grew more aware of her senses. She instinctively brought her hand up to the head and could feel a bump on the back of her head.

“No surprise there. When you fainted, you landed with a thud on the floor. You may have a good bump on the ole’ noggin,” Salome replied to Max in a calming voice.

It was then that Max felt Salome reach out and take her hand. Almost immediately Max felt more relaxed and comforted. “Good guess ‘cause I do,” Max responded.

“I would like some water,” Max requested.

“On it,” Chloe replied quickly as she darted from the room.

Rachel looked at Max concerned. “Max, are you sure you are ok? We have a nurse on staff with the company. We can go get him.”

“No, no need. I’m fine,” Max replied unconvincingly.

Chloe burst back into the room with a coffee mug in hand. “It’s the best I could do, not knowing where anything is,” Chloe said in an apologizing tone.

Max gingerly set up from the couch with Salome helping her. Max took the mug from Chloe.

“It’s okay. I am so thirsty I wouldn’t care what you found,” Max said. She drank the water in one giant, constant gulp.

“Better,” Max sighed.

Salome looked at Max and sat down on the couch next to her. “I guess I have some explaining to do,” Salome began rather sheepishly.

Max looked at her with eyes wide and mouth agape. “Uh, you think? How are you here? I mean, I am thankful you are and not mad… just incredibly surprised... but it's been a long time since I left you in Paris. How did you find your way here?”

“Before I answer your questions, I have to say something. Max, I love you. I love you more than anything in this world and when you left Paris and I told you to go, I meant it. But I sensed you were in trouble so I came looking for you. I have been trying to find you ever since. I want to be by your side always and never, ever lose you again.” Salome knew it would be hard for Max to understand.

“Wait a damn minute.” It was Chloe’s turn to speak. “Salome? As in Max’s Salome? As in Max’s girlfriend from Paris! Whoa, I think I need to sit down before I pass out too.”

With shaky knees, Chloe walked to a chair next to Rachel and sat down. Rachel reached out and put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder and continued Chloe’s thoughts:

“So my set designer, who has been with us since the show went on tour, is Max’s girlfriend? I am so confused.”

Salome looked at Max. “Yes, Ms. Amber. I met Max in Paris and we were in love. We had been together for a long time and one night Max had a dream that Chloe and you were in trouble. So she came to New York to your play. To find Chloe. I told her to go and it was the hardest thing I have ever done.”

Salome took Max’s hands in hers and turned towards her. “I love her. More than anything. More than life itself. More than the breaths I take.”

“So when I heard your play was going on tour and you were hiring set designers, I decided that, to find Max, I would tour with your play. If Max was to find Chloe, I would probably indirectly find her. Or I hoped I would. And here we are.” Salome smiled.

“At the very least I thought that maybe I could help keep you safe, from whatever Max saw in her visions, whatever scared her so badly. I am sorry. I didn't mean to lie or deceive you.”

Rachel looked at Salome and smiled back at her. “Salome, you did not. Trust me, and since I suspect you know a lot about our lives, Max’s past and the crazy things fate and destiny have done to those of us in this room, it only makes sense that you are here. In some weird Max, Chloe and Rachel way. And by the way, please call me Rachel.”

Chloe sat there in stunned silence. “F--- me.” Those were the only words that came to mind. “F--- me,” she repeated shaking her head.

Rachel laughed. “It might take her a little longer to process this though,” gesturing at Chloe.

Max turned to Salome and still could not believe she was here. “You still have a lot of explaining to do but first, I want you to know that I never stopped thinking about you, I never stopped loving you and I never stopped wanting to find you. But after what happened when I saw Rachel’s play, I couldn’t. I had to stay away.”

Max looked around the room.

“I had to stay away from ALL of you,” she said as she gestured to everyone in the room. “The fact we are all together, right here and right now terrifies me unlike anything ever has. And this is precisely why I had to run, why I had to leave in the first place and never wanted to be found. Not because I didn’t miss you all or because I was happy alone. Quite the opposite. No, because what I saw in my dream or vision makes me think that destiny isn’t done with me...with us... yet.”

Chloe looked at Max. “What scared you that badly Max? Was it something at the play? Something that was said?”

Max looked down, unable to look at Chloe or anyone else. “No it was nothing like that. At the play, I had another vision similar to the one that Salome mentioned. I thought once I found Salome and we were happy everything would be ok. But this vision scared me in ways I had never been scared.”

Salome looked at Max. “Please tell us, Max. What was it?”

Max swallowed and couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth. “In my first vision, I saw Arcadia Bay. I saw the lighthouse, the overlook.”

“You saw us then all those years ago? The storm? Your choice?” Chloe asked.

“No, Chloe. No storm. It was actually a beautiful sunny day. Postcard perfect. No I saw a memorial. It had names and dates on it. A date of death.”

Collectively, all of the girls in the room held their breath and waited on Max to continue.

“It said… Chloe Price, Rachel Amber, and Maxine Caulfield.”

“The first time I had this vision when I saw our names, I was still in Dublin and dreamed of Paris. I was on top of the Eiffel Tower and a storm approached. It whisked me away to New York and I stood outside the theater and saw your play’s name, Atonement. Apparently it was not even announced yet. I was then transported… you know how dreams are… to Arcadia Bay and saw the memorial with our names. But it stopped there. Or so I thought… so I hoped.”

“I had to have answers. So I went to Paris. I had to confront it; fate and destiny were not through with me it seemed.”

“But I met Salome and my world changed. I thought everything had truly changed and the universe would leave me alone. I was happy. And for the longest time, I did not dream or have any visions. Then one night I dreamed about the night you announced your play to the world.”

Before Max could go on, Rachel said, “Our wedding reception. That was when I announced the play and shared its name to the world.”

“Exactly,” Max agreed. “At your reception, when you announced the name of your play, it confirmed for me that something was going on. So out of fear for your safety and Chloe’s, I had to come to New York. I had to make sure you were okay. And Salome told me too. She gave me the greatest gift - she understood why I needed… why I had to go.”

“So I came to New York that very night. I flew in and came to the play. It was beautiful, I had some great champagne and spoke some French to the bartender. I had been practicing. And as the play was about to begin Rachel came out on stage and…”

Rachel shook her head in disbelief. “And announced the opening would be delayed because of a storm that was rocking the area. Oh my God Max, that night? You were there in the audience!?”

Max nodded. “Yes, I had planned to come find you and Chloe after the play. But then things went bad. Real, real bad. I had the most powerful vision I have ever had. It was similar to the ones in my past… before the storm, before I saved Rachel. It was real, much too real. My nose even bled which is a really bad sign. This vision was the same as the first or so I thought. Arcadia Bay, the memorial. Our names. But this time… a new name had been added.”

Max heard Salome say it, “Mine.”

Max turned to Salome and nodded in agreement. “The memorial had four names on it now. Still no year only a date. The same date for each of us. So now that we are all together, I am terrified. I am not sure what to think.”

“And I knew Chloe and Rachel understood my life and what it means to deal with fate and destiny and the consequences of doing so. We had beaten it. You were together and happy. But not Salome. I refuse to let her life get f---ed up as well. She was not going to suffer for loving me.” Max turned to Salome, “You were not going to suffer for loving me. That’s why I ran and had to stay away”

Salome squeezed Max’s hand. “Love is suffering. Its pain and separation. It's the price of loving someone. At some point it comes to an end. Death is the great equalizer. But Maxine Caulfield, you listen to me and you listen good: I will die a thousand deaths and suffer all the pain in this world to be next to you. Maybe it will be for a lifetime, maybe a few years or a few months, but not having you in my life is the worst pain imaginable. So I don’t care. F--- FATE! F--- DESTINY! I have you in my life and I want you, all of you.”

Max reached up and caressed her face. “There’s that passion I love so much. And I guess that answers my next question too. I love you too Salome and always have.”

“But that does not change what might happen. We have to face the fact that I had this vision and we may not have changed a thing. I fear I am forever trapped in the labyrinth of Simon Bolivar’s life. Always deadends, always suffering, always trying but never closer.”

Salome looked at each girl in turn. “No, but we cannot live in fear. We have to live each day as it is the last - we have to love and be loved. Life is not about fearing death but living each moment. We die only once but we live each day. Do you know how you get through that labyrinth? Through love and support, friendship and togetherness. You don’t do it alone. And that is why I… why we… are here. ”

“So what do we do now? Max asked.

The question hung in the air and before anyone offered an answer, Rachel exclaimed, “Whoa, look at the time!”

“I have a performance to prepare for and you both need to work on some of the damaged sets. As they say, whoever they are, ‘The show must go on’ right? Chloe needs to head back to the hotel, take a hot shower and probably a long nap.”

Chloe nodded in agreement and turned to Max. “You join me when you are ready and we will come back for the performance tonight - if you are up for it, Max. Just meet me at the hotel.”

“Sure Chloe. I would love to actually see the entire play,” Max replied.

Chloe turned to Rachel. “Is Maxine all set?”

“Yes, she is staying with my friends for today and we will pick her up tonight after the performance. I know she will love to see Max again and meet Salome.” Rachel answered.

“Chloe, after I finish here I will go back to my hotel and get ready and then meet you at your hotel and we will take an Uber for the play. Sound good?” Max looked to Chloe for confirmation.

“Sounds great,” Chloe responded. She got up and walked over to Salome and bent down and gave her a hug. “Welcome to our crazy, messed up family. And thank you for being there for Max.”

Salome returned the hug and out of the corner of her eye she could see the biggest smile creep across Max’s face.

“Rach, love you. You two have fun doing your art thing. Bye for now!” Chloe said as she left.

“Let’s get to work,” Rachel began as the door closed behind Chloe. “And uh, sorry Max, I tend to be a bit of a boss at work so forgive me if I seem short-tempered. No surprise ‘boss’ and ‘bitch’ both start with the letter B!”

Max winked at her. “Rachel, I understand. I can be the same way with art shows and galleries. It's all about vision and understanding, right?”

Max stopped for a moment and started to laugh. The irony finally caught up to her.

“What’s so funny?” Rachel inquired.

“Chloe told me long ago in another life that you and I are a lot alike even though we are very different and as always, she was right. The three of us really are very much alike but also very different.”

Salome pulled her feet up on the couch and snuggled closer to Max. “You can say that again? Rachel, do we have to get to work? I want to stay here with Max all day.”

“Tell you what, you two take a few moments to catch up and then meet me on the stage and we’ll get to work. I will make sure all the tools you need are ready for you. Ok?” Rachel offered.

“Sounds perfect” Max said.

Rachel headed towards the door to leave. “Awesome, see you in a few.”

As Rachel left, Max turned to Salome and said, “I cannot believe you are here. It's been so long and we have so much to catch up on.”

Max put her arms around Salome. “But for now, I just want to sit here and hold you and just take a few moments to be thankful that we are together again.”

Salome wrapped her arms around Max’s. “Sounds perfect.”

\----*----

Their time together was short-lived because the “boss” interrupted them and told them it was time to get to work. “Whoa, Rachel was not kidding was she?” Max said to Salome. Salome grinned and replied, “You should see her on bad days.”

They got to work repairing some of the sets that were damaged. Before long, the sets were finished and the crew was putting the final preparations on the performance.

Max knew it was time for her to go but she did not want to leave Salome. “It's only for a few hours,” Salome reasoned with her. Max, unhappily accepted this, and gave Salome a kiss on her forehead. “I promise I will see you tonight,” Max said. “Chloe and I have reserved seats on the front row and I am looking forward to it.” The latter part was obviously a lie.

Salome gave her a hug. “Okay you, now go get ready. Love you Maxine Caufield”

“Love you too” Max replied.

As she left the theater, Max was scared. Terrified even. Not only did everything seem okay, she was scared that the play would lead to another dream or vision but she remembered that memorial and seeing those names in Arcadia Bay. Not knowing what it meant, she decided the best thing she could do was to try and keep Rachel, Chloe and Salome close. Maybe deep down she could keep them safe and protect them.

“And you know what, maybe I still have my power. It's been years since I tried to use it, much less thought about it. If worse comes to worst, maybe I can save them.

“Or die trying,” she said aloud.

**Chapter 2**

_Though I’ve been miles away_   
_Blue wings in hurricanes_   
_You know what I’d say_   
_The price that I’d pay for you_

_You dream of better days_  
 _Eternal autumn haze_  
 _My lifes been so strange_  
 _But thats just alright with you_  
-Price, Koethe Koethe

Max got an Uber to head back to her hotel. Once there, she showered and got dressed. It temporarily took her mind off of things. But with each passing moment, the sense of dread came crawling back. She thought again to that night when she saw the play and had her vision… something that she wished she could forget. There was a time, when she was with Salome that she forgot about it; that it felt like a distant memory or another life. But on this day, all the emotions returned. The fear felt like a lump in her throat and she was not sure if she was going to throw-up or choke.

“You got this,” Max told herself. “No matter what happens it will be okay. Your life is perfect. Chloe has come back to me, Salome found me, and I have one of the largest art show openings going on in the history of the San Francisco art scene. Everything is fine and could not be more perfect.”

“That is what scares me,” she said aloud to the empty room.

Max proceeded to grab her purse and slipped on her too-tall-for-her-but-its-all-she-had heels and headed out of her hotel room and asked the concierge to hail her a taxi. He obliged and with a curt nod had her a taxi in no time. She told the driver where she wanted to go and sat back and closed her eyes, her mind going a million miles an hour. She thought of everything and she had to smile. She felt like she had lived three lifetimes and all of those lifetimes had come together at this moment. Her past, her present, and, she hoped, her future would all be at that play tonight.

She arrived at Chloe’s hotel and paid the driver as she stepped out of the taxi. He complimented her appearance to which Max, half oblivious and lost in thought, only nodded and mumbled something that sounded like “thanks”. She entered the hotel and took the elevator to the second floor. There she got off of the elevator and turned to head to Chloe’s room.

Just outside of the room, she checked her dress and took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. “It’s me,” Max said loudly.

“Just a sec,” she heard Chloe say from behind the closed door. It gave Max pause as Chloe’s voice didn't sound right. Max could tell, just from her voice, something was wrong.

A few moments later, Chloe answered the door. Immediately, Max could tell two things about Chloe. First, Chloe was only wearing a towel.

“Running late…so sue me,” Chloe would later offer as a reason. She did not seem to care that she was only in a towel and truth be told, Max was a little surprised... but also fine with this new level of intimacy between her and this Chloe.

Secondly, Max could tell Chloe had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and red. They were a little bloodshot too. Max decided against saying anything as she did not want to make it worse… whatever “it” was.

“Hi, Max. Come on in. I was just about to get dressed,” Chloe said slightly hoarse and uncomfortable.

“Probably from crying,” Max thought. She could see Chloe wiping at her eyes while her back was turned.

As Max entered, she heard Chloe exclaim, “Damn girl! You look amazing. Who knew when we were like 13 and dressed up like pirates that you would grow up to dress up like this...wow!”

Max felt her face blush. She appreciated the compliment and the affirmation from Chloe. “Thanks. I still don’t like dressing up but you have to do it when you live in the art gallery scene. I still prefer my hipster jeans and generic t-shirt.”

Chloe nodded in agreement. “Me too.”

“So, Max… that’s Salome huh?” Chloe changed the subject rather quickly. “I cannot believe you told me about her just this morning and now she is here. Shocked?”

“You have no idea,” Max countered. “As far as I knew, she was still in France and she was far away. I had no idea and couldn’t fathom she would be here, be this close…” Max’s words trailed off.

“I have to admit that is pretty cool,” Chloe began. “For her to care enough about your friends that she took it on herself to come find us and keep an eye on us while looking for you. She must really love you.”

Max could hear it in Chloe’s voice. There was some pain and hurt behind those words.

“Yes, she does and I love her too. Chloe, are you ok? What’s going on? You know you can talk to me about whatever it is.” Max reached out and grabbed Chloe’s hand in a show of support.

Tears welled in Chloe’s eyes. “Yes I can talk to you about most things. But not this… and everything has happened so fast. It was hard enough this morning to hear that you had moved on, that you had found someone, but now… to see that someone, to see you together… I was not ready.”

Max stood there confused. “Chloe, I don’t understand. Ready for what?”

“Damn it, Max,” Chloe cried. “I love you too.”

Max stood there, in shocked silence not knowing what to say. Max could tell with the way Chloe said it, she meant something beyond that love you have for a friend. Max knew… Max could feel, for the first time in a long while, that Chloe meant that she truly and deeply loved Max.

Chloe walked over and sat down on the bed and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked up at Max and said, “It was the same reason I got upset this morning when you first told me about Salome.”

“I know. I don’t understand it either. I have Rachel, I love Rachel and little Maxine and my life. You gave me this life, what I wanted. I am beyond happy. But to hear about you moving on, then to see you with Salome… I don’t know, Max. I guess part of me, when we were kids, always thought of you, of us. I know, crazy right? I mean, I thought you and I would end up together, our own ‘happily ever after’…” The last word trailed off into space and time and hung there.

Max feeling her knees go weak and the butterflies fill her stomach, reached out for the bed and sat down next to Chloe. “Um, whoa. I was not prepared for that.”

Chloe nodded in agreement. “I know right. I wasn’t either. It just kinda happened. But I have always told myself that if I ever found you again, I would do nothing to lose you. And that means I will never lie to you.”

“I will never lie to you either. I love you Chloe Price. Part of me always has and always will. When I left you in my timeline to go save Rachel and knew that I was making a choice that meant I would most likely never see you again, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. It devastated me but I did it… I did it for love. Love means you will do what you have to do for the other person to protect them and make them happy. And I wanted nothing more than for you, to be safe and happy.”

Chloe was audibly sobbing at this point. She grabbed Max’s hand and buried her face in Max’s chest. “I love you too Max. And I love Rachel. I am so f---ing confused.”

“And I love Salome,” came the response. “Chloe, we are meant to be together. We are soulmates. We are partners in time. We are connected in a way that few people are. Our love goes beyond friendship or romance. It's a connection. It's as if our souls are connected. Think about all we have been through and seen. All we have experienced. In this time and in mine. Nothing...not even fate or destiny...time or loss… destruction or heartbreak… Nothing can keep us apart. We are Max and Chloe. We are together even when we’re not.”

She continued, “So even with all the pain we have right now… the fact we are not together, that we love other people, that our lives went down a different path than we both thought or could ever even anticipate, just remember… we are still together. We still found each other. We have come back to one another. If you think about all of the infinite worlds and possibilities… the one constant is and always has been, US. You and I. Max and Chloe. This is love. This is us. And that’s pretty hella awesome.”

Max could feel Chloe chuckle through her tears. “You said hella.”

“Yes, I did,” Max said as she lifted Chloe’s face. “I will always, always love you. Across time, across life and death, across fate and destiny. You know that right?”

Chloe nodded. “Me too”

Max wrapped her arms around Chloe and they sat there on the edge of the bed for what felt like an eternity. They sat there in silence, enjoying being together and having found one another again,

Chloe was the first to speak after several minutes. Her tears had dried up and eyes no longer swollen and she had a mischievous look on her face. “Max?” she asked.

Max detecting the tone in her voice knew something was about to make her very uncomfortable. “Yes?” came her hesitant response.

“Did we ever hook up?” Chloe asked bluntly.

Max immediately felt her palms sweat and her heart race, “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to half-ignore the question and play dumb.

“Maxine Caulfield, you know what I mean. Did we ever, in any of the other times or lives, you know, hook up...have relations, go where no man has gone before?”

“Chloe, after all this...you asked that?” Max replied. “How can you go from so sweet and emotional to such a horn-dog in like two seconds flat?”

“Excuse me, Ms. Priss. But a girl’s got-to-know what a girl’s got-to-know.”

Max sighed. As the memories of her past life came flooding back, how Chloe came to her in the shower and how it was everything she had wanted at that moment, Max could feel the heat in her cheeks and her heart race and beat so fast it felt like it would pound through her chest.

“No need to say a word, Max. I can tell just from your reaction to the question. And that’s a big YES. And I knew we had too. I mean come on - I am irresistible.”

Max’s nodded ignoring Chloe’s comment. “Yes, one time in a hotel room. I was taking a shower and you came in and joined me. And do I really need to say more?”

“Absolutely, but I will take a raincheck on that because we have to get going and get back to the theater. Now excuse me while I go get dressed. Chloe stood up and gathered her stuff and headed to the bathroom. She closed the door but a few seconds later opened it and stuck her head out.

“Just so you know, I am not getting dressed in here because I am shy or anything. I am getting dressed in the bathroom because apparently I rock your world and you cannot keep your hands off me.”

Max picked up a pillow and chucked it at her. “Chloe Elizabeth Price! I knew I should have never said anything. You are never going to let me live this one down!”

“Damn right sister. When you’re this sexy, you have too! And by the way, there is a shower in here too...” Chloe said as she winked at Max. She closed the door behind her as she disappeared into the bathroom.

Max just shook her head and smiled. “Chloe being Chloe” she said to the empty room. Her thoughts soon turned to the upcoming play and her fear returned. She was thankful for these moments with Chloe. Not knowing what the evening held, she welcomed the distraction.

**Chapter 3**

_Sail on after me love_   
_Will you sail on after me?_   
_Will you fight the waves of oceans?_   
_Will you still believe?_

_When I say hold up now_  
 _Will you stand against the breeze?_  
 _Will you stand tall and surrender none to me?_  
-Sail Away, Koethe Koethe

Max and Chloe hailed a taxi and took it to the theater. Tonight's performance of Atonement was sold out since it was the final performance in San Francisco but also the final performance on tour. The play would go into hiatus for a few years and the powers that be on Broadway would decide what to do with it. The play had been a rousing success with numerous sell outs and rave reviews. Rumor was that movie producers had become interested in possibly turning the play into a film.

As they arrived at the theater, Max was awestruck by the glitz and glamour. Gallery openings were low key events compared to this. Max could see spotlights, local news crews and numerous people taking selfies and stopping to take in the spectacle.

Almost as if reading her mind, Chloe looked at Max and said, “Rachel knows how to put on a good show. It's amazing her attention to detail and how fans and the media swoon over her and this play. It seems to have really hit a nerve with people. I read about one fan that has seen it five times in five different cities!”

“That’s amazing,” Max said still in shock. “Should we go in and find Rachel and Salome?”

“Forget it. Rachel will be back stage dealing with a hundred final tiny details and there is no telling where Salome is. Just before the curtain rises, its chaos back there. Best if we just find our seats.”

Together they walked into the theater. Having been here when it was empty and now seeing everything perfect seemed like night and day. Max was amazed at how everything and everyone came together for the performance. Being a photographer was such a lonely, solitary experience that seeing hundreds of people work together was pretty cool.

The house lights flashed to indicate the performance would start soon. Quickly… well as quickly as her heels would let her… Max and Chloe found their seats and sat down.

Chloe turned to Max. “You ok?” she asked. “You got this. I am right here by your side and I am never leaving you.”

Max couldn’t find the words. Her fear and her nerves were beginning to overpower her. She knew her fight or flight response was kicking in. She took Chloe by the hand and just held it. “Thank you for being here with me, Chloe.”

As the lights dimmed, Max’s fear grew. The darkness, only lit by the track lights in the aisle, felt encompassing and claustrophobic.

The curtain rose and before her was the backdrop she had seen earlier that day. The cliff, the lighthouse and the storm. Even though Rachel and her designers had never seen that moment, this was amazingly accurate. Max could almost hear the wind and feel the rain pelting her face. It was so real… all too real. She squeezed Chloe’s hand even harder and Chloe squeezed her back, reassuring her she was there. Out walked a young girl, obviously meant to be Max but going by the name Mac. She stood with her back to the audience looking out over the storm.

Mac: This is my storm. I caused this... I changed fate and destiny so much that... I altered our lives. But all I really did was just cause death and destruction!

Out on stage stumbled a pink-haired girl, named Zoe. Obviously this was meant to be Chloe. Max felt the real Chloe lean in next to her. “That’s me,” she said happily and obviously impressed she was seeing herself on stage….

Zoe: You were given a power. You didn't ask for it... Okay, so you're not the Master of Time, but you're Mac... and you're amazing. This is the way.

Mac: No! You are my priority right now. You are all that matters to me.

Zoe: Maybe you've just been delaying my real destiny... Look at what's happened in Tillamook Bay ever since you saved me.

Mac: Zoe...

Zoe: Mac, you finally came back to me, and... you did nothing but show me your love and friendship. You made me smile and laugh. Wherever I end up after this... in whatever reality... all those moments between us were real, and they'll always be ours.

Mac: Zoe... I can't do this...

Zoe: No, Mac... Only you can.

Max sat there speechless. To hear those words, and while they were not an exact reproduction of what she had said to Chloe, and Chloe said to her, all those years ago, it was close enough. Feeling as if the darkness… the oppressive darkness was going to consume her, Max let go of Chloe’s hand and wanted nothing more than to leave the theater. She got up, slipped off her heels and practically ran out of the theater.

Chloe followed. As she and Max burst through the lobby door, Chloe reached for her hand and grabbed it. She slowed Max down and turned her around.

“No, Max. No. Don’t go” she pleaded. “It's okay. You got this. I am here with you. We will face it together.” she echoed.

“Chloe you don’t understand, you will never understand. That scene… the one we just watched. That was the moment I had to make my choice. I had to decide to sacrifice you or thousands of lives in Arcadia Bay. That dialogue, those words. It was all too much. How did Rachel know, how did she write those words?”

“Because I told them to her,” came the response that stunned Max.

“I have not been totally truthful with you. You had dreams about the future. But I have had dreams about the past. Ever since you saved Rachel, I began to have dreams or visions too. I saw our lives. I saw moments from your time. They were like echoes. They were all too real. I told Rachel about them and this is where the idea for the play came from. They were like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, broken up in time in my head. Part of the reason I wanted to find you so badly was I need to understand what it all meant. It's one reason I have never been back to Arcadia Bay. I am not sure I could face it alone, without you.”

“Chloe, why didn’t you say anything?” Max asked.

“Because it was too difficult. Once I found you, all those emotions came rushing back. And then Salome was here. I knew from that other timeline that we were together, that we were meant to be. Again it was like an echo and it haunted me. Here. Now. Today.”

“Chloe, you must also understand why I must go. Now. I knew this was a mistake. I knew you should never find me. I knew we cannot be together. I knew it but I let my feelings and emotions get the best of me. I’m leaving Chloe. Tell Rachel, Salome and little Maxine bye for me.”

With that Max shook her arm free from Chloe’s grip and looked her in the face.

“Please don’t go,” Chloe begged, tears running down her cheek.

“You understand better than anyone why I have too.”

And with that Max turned and ran out the door.

\----*----

Outside, it was rainy and foggy. San Francisco at night, when the fog rolls in off the bay, can get pretty miserable. It seemed like a whole other world to Max, far from the beautiful sunny day they had experienced. Max thought it was appropriate as the weather fit her mood.

She paused just outside the door. The glitz and glamour of earlier has vanished and it was a quiet, deserted street except for the occasional passing car. She looked to see if Chloe was following her but when she peered back into the lobby, Chloe had vanished. Max was a little surprised that Chloe did not follow her and try and convince her to change her mind. Maybe, she thought, Chloe really understands.

Max decided it was not worth fighting the rain. She began to slowly walk. The rain was a light mist and had it been warmer, actually would not have been too bad. It reminded Max of some of the nights she spent in Ireland. She stopped at the corner, waiting on the traffic light to change and looked back at the theater. Her heart hurt. She knew what she was leaving behind. She did not want to either but she knew she had too. If today taught her anything, its that fate and destiny would always win. Her life was not one meant to be happy. The universe would not let her be happy. She knew she had to stay away, to keep those she loved safe. She would do nothing to hurt not only Chloe and Rachel but those truly innocent in this Faustian nightmare, Maxine and Salome.

The light changed and she proceeded across the empty street. Lost in thought she did not hear the rapid shuffling of feet behind her.

“MAX! STOP. Please stop,” she heard a small voice exclaim.

Salome.

She turned and behind her, closing quickly was her love. “Chloe must have gone to find her when I walked out.” Max thought to herself.

As Salome reached her, she was out of breath. Tired and wet, she collapsed into Max’s arms. “Chloe needs to work on her directions. I ran the other way first, but I was not going to stop until I found you.” Salome said.

Max started to speak but Salome stopped her.

“No you don’t get to speak first. You need to hear me out. I expected something like this might happen. I came prepared.” Salome lifted the edge of her dress and instead of wearing heels, she had on athletic shoes.

“I was coming prepared just in case you left again. I am not losing you, Maxine Caulfield.”

Max looked at Salome and had to smile. Salome knew her all too well.

“Salome, you don’t understand. You have no idea what it's like to be forced to decide between your best friend and the lives of an entire town. What it's like to wonder if, at any given moment, you are going to lose those who you hold the most dear.”

“No I don’t understand what it’s like to wonder if I am going to lose them. I know what it's like to lose them. And to be the one that tells them to go,” Salome confided.

Max looked at Salome and in that moment she realized that Salome had truly given up everything. She had made the decision to let Max go. Because she loved Max. It wasn’t if she was going to lose Max, she already had. Max finally understood that Salome did not live her life on what might happen but took control of it and made the choices that she wanted. She let Max go because that’s what Max wanted. She accepted the pain that Max feared.

“Salome…” Max began. “I am not sure what to say. I love you too. But after these dreams and visions, and just now reliving that moment on the cliff when I chose Chloe over Arcadia Bay and sacrificed all those people, I feel as if fate and destiny will never be through with me and anyone near me will never truly be safe. I cannot risk you and your life for my happiness.”

Salome shook her head. “You aren’t. I am. I lost you once. I never want to do that again. I choose you, Max. I choose our life together. I choose you no matter what fate and destiny say. I am yours and you are mine and I want it to be that way forever.”

“Please don’t go. Please don’t leave me. Just come with me. Let’s go back to the theater and get out of this weather. And after we have talked, if you still feel like you have to go, if you feel you must go, I will not stand in your way. Please… for me.” By this point, both girls were soaked and their dresses ruined. Their hair was wet and tangled and the makeup had vanished from their faces.

Max nodded in agreement and Salome took her by the hand and led her back to the theater.

\----*----

Salome led her around the side of the theater to a door that the crew used. She knocked on it twice and it opened. They were ushered in and headed back to the same meeting room in which they had reconnected earlier that day.

Salome went to find some towels and soon returned. They dried off the best they could and sat down on the couch.

Salome began. “There is more I need to say and it’s a long story and I warn you it's not happy... And I knew at some point I would have to tell you. I tried time and time again. I wanted to wait for the perfect time to say something but there never was a perfect time. But I guess now is the perfect time. No time like the present they say.”

“Max, my entire life I have been different. I was a quiet kid. I was often uncomfortable around others. As I grew older, I learned about being an introvert. And I thought that explained why I was different. When I was around people, especially in close physical contact with them, I grew weary and emotional. Being introverted explained it. For a time.”

“As I got into college and grew older, I no longer thought about it as being different. I was going through many other changes as well. I always knew I was gay but in high school, I played it off as that awkward teen phase. I even tried to date guys. Of course, denying that part of me, made it harder years later when I came out to my parents. They loved me and supported me and told me they knew and had always known. I was very lucky in that regard.”

“I got in a serious relationship in college. She was my first girlfriend. We loved each other dearly. She is the only other person I have ever loved, besides you. But her life was not perfect. She had all sorts of personal issues. She was religious and could not reconcile being gay and being Godly. She was raised in a very conservative home where you went to church every Sunday and was taught to hate gay people and that being gay was an abomination. She could not understand why she was supposed to hate herself.”

“So we had to keep our relationship a secret. But I loved her. Loved her so very much. And I am sorry for all the details but you have to understand this to understand what I am about to tell you. When she and I were together, it was bliss. We were so happy and she seemed like a different person, without a care in the world. But as great as we were together, the opposite was true when we were apart. She suffered from depression and anxiety. And for the longest time I did not understand.”

“We were together for over a year and a half. And just before Christmas break of my sophomore, her junior year, we had a fight. We yelled and we screamed. She wanted me to go home with her for Winter break. She wanted me to meet her family. And I told her I would come on one condition - she told her parents the truth. Told them we were a couple. She said she could not do that and I should understand why. I told her, in that case, I couldn’t. She left angrily and for the first time we did not make up before she left. My last words to her were something along the lines of “growing up” and she needed to “learn what it means to be in an adult relationship.”

I stayed at the college as I had a small apartment and she went home. With us both being angry, I gave it a few days before I called her.

“She didn’t answer and it did not really worry me. At least initially. I waited a few days and called again. Still no answer. Christmas Eve approached, and Christmas was her favorite holiday. Even into her teen years, her parents and she would go to a Christmas Eve church service, come home and eat tacos and then she would open a present. The present would always be matching pajamas for the entire family and they would take a family photo. Then they would leave cookies and milk for Santa. You know family traditions and all that? It was always her favorite time of the year.”

Max nodded and wanted Salome to continue.

“So I knew she would be home Christmas Eve. So I called again and this time someone picked up. It was not her. It was her Mom.”

Max held her breath and couldn’t blink. Even with the rain still running down her face from her still wet hair, Max could see Salome’s eyes fill with tears.

“Her Mom told me that she had seen that I called twice before. And then asked if this was Salome Lavoie. I said it was and she said that she thought so. I asked to speak to Emily and her Mom said I couldn’t. In my throat, I built up a protest thinking her parents found out about me, or about us. And just as I was about to say something, her Mom continued:

“You can’t because Emily died three days ago. She killed herself. She took a whole bottle of vicodin and never woke up.”

“I will never forget those words. They echo in my head to this day. But it was what she said next that destroyed me. Her Mom said that Emily left a letter and she read it to me. It was short:

“Tell Salome I am sorry. I am sorry I was not stronger. I am sorry I could not be who she wanted me to be. Tell her I was happy when I was with her and that she was the best thing that ever happened in my life. I am sorry it had to end this way.”

“My world exploded. My heart exploded. The pain I felt was incomprehensible. I withdrew from everything and everyone. Except my art. I used art as my voice, as my coping for my loss. I love her to this day and can never forgive myself for what happened. I never loved anyone again...until I met you.”

“Skip ahead a few years and I, on a dare, went and visited a medium, a practitioner of the voodoo arts. We were in New Orleans on an art trip for our senior project. I accepted the dare and went inside. It was the typical voodoo parlor… incense, dark arts, crazily dressed lady asking me what the fates held for me. Same ole touristy BS. But when she took my palm, she told me it already ran through my veins and she could not give me a reading. She asked me politely and firmly to leave.”

“I was confused and mortified. I had no idea what she meant. So I did what you did in Ireland. I dug into my family’s past. And I began to piece together something that shocked me. We traced our family history back to Massachusetts in the colonial days. Specifically the early 1690s.”

Max interrupted. “You don’t mean?”

Salome nodded. “Yes I do. The Salem witch trials. I had a family member in Salem and who was burned at the stake. But here’s the thing. You will never read about it in the published reports or the history of Salem. My relative, my grandmother many times removed on my Mom’s side, was a servant that came with a very well-to-do family. She was from France. Well through the unofficial records I found and eyewitness accounts, I could piece together, she was killed for being a witch.”

“So you are trying to tell me you’re a witch?” Max asked skeptically.

“No silly. Far from it. But the reason she was killed was not because she was a witch but because she had a power she could not explain. She was an empath. And when I met you in Paris I was there, looking deeper into my family’s past and what it meant.”

“Empath?” Max asked, genuinely curious.

“An empath is someone that can project or absorb the emotions of others. Some empaths can project their emotions on others and make them feel a certain way. Often they do this for nefarious reasons. Other empaths, like in my family, can only absorb the emotions of others. Like a sponge. You see someone having a bad day, you get near them and you can take away the bad.”

A lightbulb went off in Max’s head. “You are an empath?” she asked.

Salome nodded. “When I'm around people, I can take away the negativity and make them calmer. I can make those around me feel less stressed. I cannot manipulate emotion so I cannot make someone happier or anything like that. And I have learned to be able to control the power, turn it off and on so to speak.”

Max stood there amazed. “This makes so much sense. All those times I had dreams or visions and awoke next to you. You reached out and I immediately felt better. I felt calmer. Wow, Salome, why did you not say anything?”

“Because I wanted the time to be right. But when I learned this it explained so much. As a kid I didn’t like being around others because I did not understand what was going on. It was not introvertedness at all, it was empathy. As I grew older and people’s problems became bigger, it would drain me. I was often sad and depressed and did not know why. Once I learned to control it, things got better. ”

“And then there was Emily. I didn’t know this but us being together allowed me to help her. But that Christmas, when she left upset, she must have felt that even I could not help her and she had to feel alone and abandoned.”

“You see Max, I drove her away. My anger and my selfishness as to what I wanted was more important. Had I not been selfish and angry, she might still be alive. Had I truly loved her, she might still be alive.”

Salome stopped speaking and looked off into the distance. Her eyes filled with tears. Max simply sat by her side and took her hand.

Salome continued. “And then all these years later you entered my life. And I knew we were meant to be. But when you told me about your power, I felt as if we were connected. That we go beyond just two girls who met and fell in love.”

“My power is part of me and that is why I tell you about it now. And why I planned too. But like you, my power does not define me… it's not who I am. And like you I have suffered personally and emotionally because of it. And this is why I think we found each other and why we are meant to be and why I love you.”

“And I do love you so, so much. I learned the hard way that love meant not worrying about what is best for you but what you want for those around you. I swore, after Emily, when I fell in love again, I would love that person with every ounce of my being and soul. And magically and wonderfully, the universe chose you to be that person. And when you asked to go to Chloe and Rachel, I knew I could not stop you. If I did it would be out of my purely selfish desires, just like the ones that killed Emily.”

Max sat there for a while not knowing what to say. After a few moments, she found the words.

“Salome, thank you for sharing something so personal and honest with me, I know it must be hard to talk about. But it does not change the fact that people I am close to get hurt or might get hurt. I cannot afford to let that happen.”

“Max, that’s what I am trying to tell you. I choose you, my love. There is nothing that the world can do to me that has not already happened. I lost you once. Don’t make me lose you again.”

“Francois Rabelais said, apparently on his deathbed, ‘I go to seek a Great Perhaps.’ I don’t have to seek something great and on my deathbed I am not going to be looking for a perhaps either. Because I already found it. There is nothing, in life or death, that can be greater than my love for you. It is greater than all the planets in the sky, deeper than the sea and brighter than the sun. My greatest fear is losing you. Not what fate and destiny and other far off cosmic powers might do. Don’t give up on me or on us just because of chance.”

Before Max could answer, the door opened and in walked Chloe and Rachel. Well walked is the wrong word… they tumbled in as the door gave way.

“What she said,” Chloe said directly, trying to play it cool.

“Were you listening through the door Chloe Price? And you Rachel?” Max asked.

“Guilty as charged” Chloe replied. Rachel blushed and could only manage a nod.

“But that does not change anything. What she said is true. Max, I am tired of worrying about fate. We cannot control the future and we cannot know what might happen. But we can control the here and now.”

“I am your best friend,” she continued. “I have known you for most of my life. We have been friends since we were kids...dressing up for Halloween, having sleepovers so many nights that my Mom bought you your own toothbrush, playing pirates until sundown. I look back on those times and memories and I was so happy. And I am happy now.”

She reached out and took Rachel by the hand.

“And the only thing that would make me happier is to have that past and my present together. I know you think you have to stay away for me but I want you to stay here for me. I want you and Salome, Rachel and I and Maxine to be a family. Not all families are related by blood or marriage. Family is what you make it. And you are my family too. Stay Max, please stay with us.”

The tears began to flow and Max had to dry her eyes. She knew Chloe loved her but this was something more.

It was Rachel’s turn next.

“Max, I have not known you as long as Chloe. I met you that day you saved me. Saved me from a horrible fate. And better than anyone, I can tell you how I need Maxine Caulfield in my life. You saved me. It was nothing I did or could do. You did it. You did it for me and you did it for Chloe. It was the greatest gift one person can give another.”

“I want a lifetime of being together. Of being family. I want a lifetime with you to repay what you did for me. Thank you. A million times thank you. And there is a little girl out there who just met her Aunt. She deserves to know you too.”

Max reached up and took Rachel’s hand. “I didn’t know Rachel. I did not know you cared so much.”

“Next to Chloe and Maxine, you are the closest thing I have to family and I will always love you Max,” Rachel said through broken speech and flowing tears.

Salome turned to Max. Crying herself, she cleared her throat, “See the love that people have for you? See how much you mean to them? Family is so important and we are your family now.”

“You do not have to run away, Max. Being family, being together, means we love and support one another through good times and bad.”

“And then there is this,” Salome said as she kneeled on the floor in front of Max.

Reaching around her neck, she produced a necklace and on that necklace was a ring. A beautiful ring with a teardrop diamond in the middle and two small sapphires on each side.

“You may remember back in Paris, I proposed to you. Do you remember?”

Max could only nod. Rachel and Chloe looked at each other and words escaped them as well.

“Do you remember the night I told you to go? To leave, to go find Chloe and Rachel?”. Again Max nodded.

“That night I was late coming home. And do you remember the next day we had planned for a nice day trip to the tower?”

Max was crying harder now but managed a nod.

“That night I was late because I stopped to buy this ring. I thought you deserved more than a blue ring pop for an engagement ring.”

Max laughed through her tears at the memory of Salome proposing with the ring pop.

“So later that night when I told you to go, I was giving up the rest of my life and giving up the one I wanted to spend it with. I wasn’t just giving up my girlfriend, I was giving up my future and my happiness. I told you to go because of what it meant for you. I knew deep down that if we were meant to be, one day and somehow we would come back to each other.”

 _"My heart, it feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it doesn't belong to me anymore. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange. No gifts. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine."_ Max chuckled at Salome's quoting of Neil Gaiman's _Stardust_.

“I love you Maxine Caulfield. I always have. Fate and destiny have led us to this moment. Choose me. Choose love. Choose us.”

“Will you marry me?”

**Chapter 4**

_Now and then_   
_Like a slowly fading dream_   
_In another way it_   
_Seems lifetimes away_

_This uncertainty_  
 _But still so sure_  
 _Unforgotten_  
 _Now insecure_  
 _How could I forget_  
 _And are we there yet_  
 _And we_  
 _Oh could we be timeless?_  
-Timeless, Koethe Koethe (feat. Dakota Crespo)

**December 14, 2021**

Chloe stepped into the church. Never one to go to church much growing up, church made her a bit uncomfortable. People all dressed up, worshipping some unseen deity and judging you for all you did wrong? Yep, not the place for her.

The church was small and rustic. Lots of stone and wood and it probably set no more than 100 people. This was okay with her. Ever since that night almost 6 weeks ago when Salome proposed to Max, Chloe had been dreading this day.

Max said yes and decided not to run, but to stay in their lives. Max and Salome had found a small house to buy just down the street from where Chloe, Rachel and little Max lived (now that she had an Aunt Max, she no longer wanted to be called Maxine). Rachel pulled some strings and got Max a job with the same Broadway company that produced her play. Max would be the official photographer on opening nights and working with the publicity staff to help advertise future plays. It was a sweet gig, paid well and left Max enough time to work on her regular photography shows. And money was not a concern. Max had plenty of money saved through all of her gallery openings. Her sizable savings account shocked Chloe when she saw the amount.

“Damn, you’re loaded girlfriend!” Chloe had said to Max. Max was even surprised herself since she rarely cared about money and wealth.

After the play was over and the tour wrapped, the five of them flew back to New York. Salome and Max stayed in their guest room while looking for a house but also to plan their wedding. Max wanted it simple. It did not have to be big, flashy or uppity. She wanted it to be a small affair with family and friends. She didn’t even want it advertised in the local paper.

But there were two major things she wanted and would not take no for an answer. Chloe could not believe that she agreed to them. First, Max wanted to get married in Arcadia Bay. Chloe was surprised Max would choose Arcadia Bay. “It's a catharsis for me,” Max explained. “By going back there for this wonderful moment which will forever be part of my life, I can let go of all the bad. I want this memory to be my memory of Arcadia Bay, not everything else I...we… went through.” Even with Max’s explanation, Chloe hated the thought of going back to that pit of a town.

And second, Max wanted Chloe to speak at the wedding. Instead of doing traditional vows, Max wanted Chloe to say something to them and for them. Chloe nodded in agreement and terrified she only had six weeks to put something together.

Now the day was here. The moment she dreaded was soon approaching.

She looked around and everyone had been seated. The church was plainly decorated: beautiful hurricane globes and white flowers complemented with blue ribbons. At the front stood the minister… some guy they found online that was willing to marry them. Chloe found it ironic that he would even design his speech to be anything you wanted. He asked Max and Salome questions like: How did you meet? Are you best friends? How religious should it be? Most of the questions were accompanied with questioning looks from each other. How do you explain everything they had been through?

As the music began to play, Chloe took her position at the door. Max and Salome had selected Enya’s “Only Time” as the processional music. It would not have been Chloe’s choice but she figured Firewalk would not be appropriate either.

“Walk slow. Don’t rush. Take your time.” Chloe whispered to herself repeating the directions of the wedding planner. With a deep breath and all the strength she could muster, she stepped forward as the minister gave the signal for all to rise.

She did her best to walk slowly. As she approached the altar, she turned on her heels and took the place traditionally occupied by the best man. Her eyes soon fixed on the door and she saw Rachel and Maxine…er, little Max, step into view. They were walking side by side, Rachel trying to set the pace. Little Max was doing her best to throw flowers on the aisle but they were going everywhere. Chloe smiled as she looked at Rachel who was giggling at little Max. As they approached the front, she winked at Rachel and Rachel and little Max took their position where the bridesmaid usually stood. As soon as they were in place, the minister announced:

“Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, let me introduce the brides to be - Ms. Maxine Caulfield and Ms. Salome Lavoie.”

With that, the rear doors opened and in stepped both Max and Salome. Arm in arm dressed in beautiful, yet non-traditional wedding dresses. Both were white and accented with blue jewelry. Chloe overheard the stylist and wedding planner referring to them as bohemian and referring to the brides looking like Jenny from the movie Forrest Gump. The dresses were light and airy with lots of lace and exactly what Max and Salome envisioned.

Chloe chuckled under her breath remembering when Max selected a white dress. “Are you sure white is an appropriate color?” Max responded by punching her in the arm.

The music changed and as they walked down the aisle “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap played. Not normally a wedding song, it took some convincing for the wedding planner to agree to it. But this was Max’s day. This was Salome’s day. And as Rachel said earlier, it had to be perfect.

As she watched the two girls walk down the aisle, her mind and thoughts drifted. In a fleeting moment, she wished she could trade places with Salome. Not because she was unhappy or didn’t love Rachel, but because deep in her soul, part of her would always wish she and Max could be together.

But she knew, somewhere out there, in some other time or destiny, she did. She knew that she and Max were together. And that was comforting. Max gave up that life to save her, to save Rachel and sacrificed her happiness.

“But look at her now,” Chloe thought. “She is happy. I am happy.” She looked over at Rachel and little Max. “This may not be the life I imagined for myself but damn it's a good one.”

She was so lost in thought that she missed her cue until Max reached out and tapped her on the arm. “You’re on,” she said.

With every ounce of strength she had and swallowing deep to try and stifle all of the fear and nerves, she stepped up on the highest level of the altar. She looked out over the crowd and immediately made a gulp noise.

She turned and looked at Max and whispered, “I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

Max, Salome and Rachel began to laugh. Little Max turned and looked at the audience and said, rather matter-of-factly, “It ok. Mommy threw up in mouth.”

All the wedding guests who heard howled in laughter. Those not within earshot of the toddler were left guessing what was so funny.

As the laughter died down, Chloe began:

“I know it's cliche to say, and you usually see people write this in high school yearbooks and not say it at weddings, but what a long strange trip it's been. I am not going to reminisce about what all we have been through, where our lives have taken us and how very different things could have been, but know the fact that the five of us are standing here at this moment, together, can only be explained by love. I love my wife, Rachel and our family with little Max. I love Salome for being there for Max when nobody else could be. And I love Max. She is my soulmate, my best friend, my partner in time. When she asked me to speak today, I was not sure what I was going to say. Then I remembered a poem and it fit perfectly. So instead of me rambling on, I wanted to share with you the words of Maya Angelou. This poem is all about love and is entitled “Touched by an Angel”.

We, unaccustomed to courage  
exiles from delight  
live coiled in shells of loneliness  
until love leaves its high holy temple  
and comes into our sight  
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives  
and in its train come ecstasies  
old memories of pleasure  
ancient histories of pain.  
Yet if we are bold,  
love strikes away the chains of fear  
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity  
In the flush of love’s light  
we dare be brave  
And suddenly we see  
that love costs all we are  
and will ever be.  
Yet it is only love  
which sets us free.

Chloe looked at Max. She blocked out everything else and focused on Max’s face. Her beautiful face was so full of life and love. “All of us have angels in this world. That love us and look out for us. I am damn lucky because I met my angel when she was just a kid like me. And today I am lucky enough to be with her on her wedding day. She was, is and always will be my angel.”

“Those of us up here all have love to be thankful for. So to Salome and Max, remember what love has done for us. Love has set us all free - to be here on this day to celebrate you but as we leave this place, carry love with you all the days of your life. I love you both so much.”

With that she stepped off of the altar and resumed her place next to Max. With tears in her eyes, Max turned to her and hugged her. “I love you too and I always will”

Moments later, the minister pronounced Max and Salome married. Max took Chloe by the hand and Salome took Rachel’s hand who was holding little Max. They joined each other hand in hand and walked down the aisle together.

Chloe’s last thought as they exited the church was how happy and perfect their lives were at this moment and this moment she wanted to carry with her forever.

**Epilogue**

  
_Come what may we’ve lived a lifetime_  
 _What matters to me?_  
 _Forget the future I’ve made my mind_  
 _You’re all that i see_  
 _Waves come crashing down and the_  
 _Winds scream round and round but_  
 _I’ll wait out this storm_  
 _I’ll wait out this storm with you_  
-Storm, Koethe Koethe

**October 11 2023**

There was a knock at the door. “Just a minute,” came the response from inside the cute little bungalow that sat in a quiet suburb in New York.

A few moments passed and the knock was heard again but this time it was a light tap that didn’t stop. You could hear the impatience behind it.

After a few more moments, the door flew open and the blue-haired girl scooped up the little boy in her arms and lifted him high above her head while making an airplane noise.

“William Lavoie… you are so impatient,” Chloe said.

Behind William, who was now giggling and smiling, stood his two Mom’s, Max and Salome Lavoie. Soon after they were married, they adopted a little boy from a sweet and caring young girl who knew she could not keep him. Max’s one request was that he be named William. William Ryan Lavoie, named for his Grandpa and for the father of his Aunt Chloe… someone sadly, he would never meet.

A squeal and the sound of little feet filled the house. Before their eyes a blur came from the kitchen and reached her Mommy. Little Max began jumping up and down.

“Can we go play, Mommy?” little Max said as she reached for William.

“Yes,” Chloe responded. “Take William in the backyard. But be careful...remember he is smaller than you and not as fast.”

Chloe put William down and little Max took him by the hand and practically drug him out of the living room. Chloe turned to Max and Salome.

“Hi Aunties,” she teased. “Doesn’t that make you sound so old?”

Salome looked at Chloe in response and said, “Don’t forget… you and Rachel are Aunties too.”

Chloe laughed and reached out with both arms and hugged the couple. It was a Wednesday night and they had a family tradition. As long as Max, Rachel and Salome were in town, they had dinner on Wednesday nights. Always spaghetti. Chloe always joked that they had “spaghetti Tuesday on Wednesday. It made no sense to Max but Chloe seemed to get a kick out of it.

Salome looked around. “Where is the boss?”

Chloe looked condescendingly at Salome. “She is your boss. I am the queen of this castle.”

“Well she thinks she is,” the girls heard Rachel yell from the kitchen. “Salome, come give me a hand? It’s almost time to eat.”

Salome bowed before Chloe. “May I be excused, your majesty?” she said royally.

“Get out of here. Besides, I want to spend some time with your wife.”

Chloe grabbed Max by the hand and they sat down on the couch. “So how are you?” she asked Max.

“Chloe, how many times have I got to tell you that I am fine?” she replied.

“At least once more,” Chloe said with a smile.

Max smiled too. “I am fine. Everything is fine. Ever since the wedding, I have not had one vision or one dream. Everything is perfect.”

“So what about the memorial you saw? With our names… in Arcadia Bay,” Chloe asked.

“No, not one vision or dream about it either. Whatever it is or was either we changed or we have yet to see it. And either way that’s okay by me. If anything, these last few years have taught me to focus on the here and now. This moment. Not to live for the future or focus on what might be but what is.”

Chloe smiled and was happy to hear it. She pulled her knees up and sat cross-legged on the couch. Looking down she was twirling her thumbs.

After a few moments of silence, Max turned to her. “What is it, Chloe? I know you too well. What’s got you so deep in thought?”

“It is perfect,” came the reply. “Did you ever think it could be this way? When you left me in your timeline, when you went back to save Rachel, when you had those dreams and visions, when had left Salome and ran? Did you ever think it would turn out like this?”

Max paused and pulled her knees up too to sit cross-legged. “Never. Not once. I still cannot believe it. Everyday I wake up next to Salome and I see the beautiful face of our son; when we come here and I see you and Rachel and little Max. Every moment, everyday I am thankful. Thankful for this life, thankful for you and all I have.”

“What about you?” Max asked.

Chloe smiled. “Yes,” I did. Somehow I knew. Did I know we would be here on a Wednesday night with our kids playing, wives in the kitchen cooking spaghetti? No, I did not know that.”

“But I knew I would find you. I knew we would be together somehow. I knew you were my soulmate and my destiny. And I knew my love for you and your love for me would find a way.”

Chloe reached into her back pocket. “Remember this?”

“My letter!” Max exclaimed. “The one I wrote to you after I saved Rachel. You still have it.”

“Something you wrote in that letter changed my life. You didn’t know it and I am not sure you ever realized it. Hell, I only realized it once we got to where we are now.

“You wrote:

“Instead, I am grateful for having at least found you. We could have flashed by one another like two pieces of cosmic dust. God or the universe or whatever one chooses to label the great systems of balance and order does not recognize Earth-time. To the universe, four days (our years together) is no different than four billion light years. I try to keep that in mind. But, I am, after all, a man (a woman). And all the philosophic rationalizations I can conjure up do not keep me from wanting you, every day, every moment, the merciless wail of time, of time I can never spend with you, deep within my head. I love you (Chloe Price), profoundly and completely. And I always will.

Max reached out and took her hand. “I will never forget writing those words.”  
  
“See Max, I had always planned to honor your wishes. You did not want me to find you and I understood. But Rachel asked me too and for days and weeks I argued with myself, I fought with myself. Should I find you? Did you want to be found? Would you remember me? Would you still love me? It wasn’t simple and I struggled with my decision.”  
  
“Then one night I couldn’t sleep. I was awake at like 2am and a storm was raging. Thunder, lightning, rain and wind beating against the house. I just had a dream or vision about Arcadia Bay and the cliff. So I got up and got your letter from my nightstand and read it. And when I came to that part, I read it and read it again.”  
  
“And at that moment, something clicked. Something changed. I knew we, you, Rachel and I had spent a lifetime running from fate and destiny. They followed us, plagued us and toyed with our lives.”  
  
“But I stopped and asked a question - maybe it was time to stop fighting? Maybe things happen for a reason. Good and bad, happy and sad. It all happens for a reason.”  
  
“We could have flashed by one another like two pieces of cosmic dust.” she repeated.  
  
“We are dust. We are tiny and miniscule and in this world, life is what we make it. So at that moment, I decided I wanted nothing more than to find you. We have said it since we were kids. “We always will be, Max and Chloe. We're always together, even when we're not.”  
  
“That’s our fate. That’s our destiny. To be together and to love. I no longer looked at what was keeping us apart; I saw all the cosmic forces that were pushing us together. And it changed me forever.”  
Max smiled. “I have no words Chloe. You are right. Look at what we overcome. Look at how hard we fought and how hard we fought for the ones we love. We were meant to be, weren't we?”  
  
“Always,” Chloe responded.  
  
From the kitchen they heard Rachel call, “Dinner’s ready. Wives, kids, queens. Come eat!"  
  
Chloe stood and extended her hand to Max still sitting on the couch. Max took her hand and Chloe pulled her into her arms. “We always will be, Max and Chloe, won’t we?”  
  
Max responded with a nod and hugged Chloe as to never let go.  
  
“Okay now enough of this mushy crap. Let’s go eat.”

  
\----*----

  
Passersby on the street, if they peered into the small house, would see a small family, non-traditional as it were: four moms and two kids sitting down to eat dinner. They would see happiness and love. They would see smiles and if they could hear, they would hear the laughter of people celebrating their lives together. They would hear stories and tales from past lives. On the wall, they would see pictures of relatives and birthdays and all those moments families celebrate.  
What they would not see are the bonds that connected those members of that family. They would not see their past or see what each of them went through and how hard they fought to be able to have this moment. They would not see a petite girl standing on a stormy cliff with an impossible decision before her. They would not see a blue haired girl searching the world for the one she lost. They would not see an artist sitting alone in an apartment in Paris, crying because she let the love of her life go. They would not see the tears shed, the loss and the sadness that accompanied many of those moments.

But for tonight, in this house, for this family, life might have been a little strange but it was also perfect.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> To all of you who read Sacrifice, Shadows and/or Requiem, thank you! Writing these has been an awesome adventure. I had a story to tell and I have now told it.
> 
> Will I write more?
> 
> That is to be determined right now. I am going to develop a story over the Summer and if I like it, I will run with it.
> 
> It will be very different.
> 
> My goal with this story was to give myself closure to Life is Strange. Hence, the ending. They are happy and together and for all time, that is where I will see Max, Chloe, Rachel and Salome.
> 
> My next story will be post-BAY ending and it will be a true BAY ending. My goal is to give closure to that story too. It would be first person from Max's perspective. No twists or turns. It will be her coping with Chloe's death and experiencing everything that had to happen at the end of the game: Jefferson's trial, trying to regain a sense of normalcy, dealing with the fallout of Rachel's death, etc...
> 
> One final note: I hope you liked Salome. She is my creation. Zooey Deschanel was her inspiration in terms of her appearance but her personality and being introverted is me. It was kinda cool putting a "me" inspired character in the story. Salome also means "peace" so her name was deliberate as well.


End file.
